Trusted But Trapped
by OceanicShadows
Summary: Sequel to: Separation & Second Chances. It's been several weeks since Kanan had been controlled by a dark force user. His bond with Ezra is still weakened. What will happen when a mission goes wrong and the two Jedi find themselves trapped in a old mining system, with a Sith apprentice? One of these days I wont suck at summaries :) No flames please
1. Chapter 1: Frustration

****Alright, Here is the requested sequel to Separation & Second Chances ********

 **~Add normal disclaimer here!~**

 **Trusted but Trapped**

 **Chapter 1: Frustration**

It was several weeks ago that Ezra had almost lost his life because of the dark side that had controlled Kanan. Several weeks ago that his master almost lost his padawan, his friend, and his way again. But the Jedi had been allowed a second chance.

Ezra's flesh wounds had long since healed with some scaring, his bone injuries, mainly his wrist, were still healing. The young human was having a lot of issues every day trying to keep up with his daily chores and training. Ezra's struggling stood out the first time Kanan tried to do a mini lesson, just to keep the kid in practice with focusing.

He was just refreshing the kid on calling objects to him through the force. Unfortunately, Ezra's dominant hand was also his injured.

"Concentrate. Use the force to locate the object and feel it and will it back to you." The Jedi master watched his student shut his eyes and raise his hand. His face furrowed in concentration. The lightsaber across the room started to move before it came flying at Ezra. The student caught it. A split second later it clattered to the floor as the young teenager cried out, gripping his arm, doubled over in pain.

"Ezra?" Kanan came over quickly, worry etched across his face and evident in his voice. The older tried to look at his hand but was shoved away as the padawan stormed off, extremely angry and frustrated. Kanan watched him leave, sighing and sinking into the chair nearby bringing his hand to his head to massage his temples from an oncoming headache.

" _This is my fault. The kid wouldn't be hurt if I had been able to sense the dark apprentice controlling me."_ He groaned as he kept his eyes shut. Ever since he had spoken with Ezra more about his vision, Kanan had been trying to figure out who the dark apprentice and master pairing was, how they controlled him, and how to find them.

"What did he do this time?" The Twi-lek's gentle voice echoed in his mind. The pilot had gotten used to this look after Ezra would fail to perform a training task and storm off upset. The two were very alike and she took great amusement in watching the older human deal with a younger version of himself.

"He didn't do anything. I did." Kanan got up with the same frustration his student and left the room. It was Hera's turn to sigh. She wanted Kanan to stop blaming himself, but knew that was a lost hope right now. She watched him go before turning back to her task of making caffeine. They would work it out, she had faith in them.

The Jedi knew exactly where his student was. He climbed to the top of the ghost and walked over to the kid sitting down next to him gracefully. He handed Ezra his lightsaber, that had been dropped moments earlier, remaining silent.

"I feel so worthless right now." Ezra was the first to break the silence between the two males. He wasn't that wrong. He could hardly keep up with chores, he couldn't climb through vents, he couldn't even hold his lightsaber.

His mentor searched for the right words to say. The kid had forgiven him and given him a second chance. Now it was up to him to strengthen their bond again.

"Worth is seen in many different ways Ezra. Just because you're healing or weak doesn't mean your worthless. Just like being strong doesn't make you invincible. You have to be both to be you. Your wrist will heal in time. Today was the first day you didn't have the brace on. We can try again later." Kanan kept his voice soft and low. He didn't feel like upsetting Ezra and having to chase him around the _Ghost_ any more than need be. He watched a bitter smile slightly grace his student before falling again, Ezra turning his head to face away from his master.

"This isn't just about my wrist healing…" Sadness flooded his words. It took a moment for the Jedi human to figure out what his student meant. Nightmares had been plaguing Ezra ever since he regained consciousness. He was always tired from not sleeping well and it affected everything in his wakefulness including the mending of his bones.

Kanan helped as much as he could, but the two's bond still wasn't as strong as it used to be. When Ezra moved back into his own cabin further from Kanan, it had been harder to console him. Before he had, the adult had gotten no sleep, staying up to ward off the terrors in the teens dreams most of the nights. The padawan knew this, that being the reason he insisted on leaving the sanctity of his master's cabin after finding out.

"I'm sorry kid. If I hadn't failed you, none of this would have ever happened." The older of the two felt really low and unconsciously shifted to mimic the same position the younger was in as if to protect himself.

"You didn't fail me. None of us knew…" Kanan noted the hesitation in his voice.

"What's up?" Kanan gently prodded him to open up. He had been much more encouraging to keep an open relationship and bond with his student.

"Can I...Would it be okay to stay in your room? Just one night. I can sleep on the top bunk. I…I feel safer. I don't feel so alone…" Ezra hated sounding so weak. He expected Kanan to deny his request and tell him to get over it. He knew Kanan was a loner by nature and not used to guests in his room.

"If you feel safe there. You are welcome to sleep on the extra bunk." He stood as he granted Ezra's request. Normally he liked his privacy and would have said no. Especially with the trouble the droid caused in Ezra's room almost every day. Since Ezra ran off though, Kanan slept more comfortable knowing his student was within grasp and felt that he could protect him from anything that tried to harm him physically or mentally.

* * *

 ****FLASHBACK****

Kanan woke up to a disturbance. He heard his student tossing and turning. If Ezra wasn't careful he would pull a stich, or cause more injury to his fractured body. The older man gracefully jumped off the top bunk and sat next to the student placing his hand on Ezra's head shutting his eyes concentrating on sending calming signals to the boy.

There was so much pain and sadness in Ezra's mind right now. Kanan picked up on a lot of fear as well. He heard Ezra whimpering and mumbling incoherently. Connecting with him was very hard and it concerned him greatly. He continued his focus.

Finally, Ezra let him in and the negative emotions dissipated leaving him still and quiet. His master checked him over for any re-injury before pulling the covers over him more. It had only been four days since Ezra was allowed out of the medical bay, but the nightmares were an exhausting constant. For now, Ezra was calm and in peace. Kanan climbed back up into his top bunk and got comfortable until the next one hit.

 **** END FLASHBACK****

* * *

Ezra looked up at his master in surprise at the agreement. He stood as well watching the bright star setting on the horizon.

"Kanan? The nightmares…will they ever go away? Why do I even have them when they weren't this bad before? Does it have something to do with the vision? Am I being controlled? What if I am and I hurt someone on the ship?" The youth was unsure and hesitant as his gaze stayed with the setting sun. His voice becoming more and more frantic.

"Whoa, whoa. Calm down kid" Kanan raised his voice slightly to get the kid's attention as he motioned to calm down with his hands.

"I know you don't like it…but I think tonight we're going to practice meditating. It will help you balance your emotions and should help you sleep better." He knew his younger counterpart hated meditating. It involved being still, and Ezra Bridger didn't do still.

"Okay…I'm going to go eat something." Ezra walked over to the ladder and hopped down before Kanan had a chance to say anything else, like question why his student was agreeing to something he hated. Ezra got too uncomfortable after opening up or showing this much weakness, retreating was how he handled the building discomfort he faced.

Kanan stayed up on top long enough to watch the sun finish setting before he went down below to locate the youngling and grab a bite to eat himself.


	2. Chapter 2: Deja Vu

**** Hey guys! Short chapter followed by a possible longer one later today. We'll see if I get any writing time at work. Here's your question of the day:**

 **How much fluff/OoC do you want to see out of the characters in this fic? Or would you rather me attempt to stay true to the characters? Someone maaaaaaaaaaaay get hurt by a certain mysterious dark force user. And someone maaaaaaaaaaaaay end up separated from the group for an extended amount of time. All of this may end up not evening happening. This is the first fic that I haven't pre-written, so it's all up in the air until I have time to write it all and edit it into chapters!** ~Ocean**

 **Chapter 2: Deja Vu**

Kanan sat up straight in the bed, hitting his head on the ceiling of his cabin.

"Karabast!" The man hissed in pain as he rubbed his head gingerly, as he woke up more. He had been reliving that memory for days in his sleep. He peered over the top edge of his bunk to see his padawan, curled up, and sleeping peacefully.

" _Good, I didn't wake him up…"_ Kanan sighed in relief at the sleeping form.

He had allowed Ezra to continue staying in his cabin for the time being, the teen was actually beginning to sleep through the night. Last night he had woken up once to a nightmare, but was quickly consoled and back asleep.

The older human glanced at the time, it wasn't even time for his normal pre-dawn meditation.

" _Why do I keep seeing that memory? What is the force telling me?"_ Kanan thought to himself as he climbed down from the bunk and left the room.

Ezra had been so frustrated at himself that day when he found out he couldn't properly grasp his lightsaber. By the end of the day, everything was normal though. The Jedi felt that something was out of place. He knew this was a vision of some kind, but he couldn't decipher it, everything was the same as it had been the day it happened.

Ezra was able to train and properly hold his lightsaber, as long as he was wearing a brace. Hera was concerned that the bone wasn't healing properly and that he was going to have long term issues. Kanan reassured her, but decided to keep it from the kid for the time being until they knew for certain; in the meantime, he had been teaching Ezra how to use both hands, just in case.

He walked silently down the hall, into the commons expecting to see Hera awake and looking over the next assignment. The familiar Twi-lek was not present, the lights still shut off.

" _Everyone is still asleep. It's too early."_ Kanan mused over his thoughts as he fixed himself a cup of caffeine to wake him up more.

One morning of not meditation wouldn't hurt, right? Just as he sat down, a soft male voice spoke up.

"You were talking in your sleep." Ezra said sleepily, shuffling into the room. The boy sat next to his master watching him.

"What were you dreaming about? It didn't sound or feel like a nightmare." He yawned as he spoke stretching slightly.

"I haven't figured out what I was dreaming about." Kanan said into his mug as he took another sip sitting back slightly in his seat.

The Jedi knew he would have to explain when he looked over to see his student carrying a quizzical look over his face. He was glad that Ezra was trying to reopen the bond between them that had been crushed and almost destroyed. The man just didn't know how he felt about Ezra paying attention to his sleeping habits. He didn't want the kid to know how many nightmares he suffered from; or worse, get inside his mind and see what the nightmares were about. No one deserved to see those.

"I'm pretty sure it's some kind of vision. I just don't know what of. The day you didn't wear your brace while training, when you dropped your lightsaber, it keeps replaying over and over each night. Are you still upset about what happened? Is there something you need to tell me?" The mentor knew he could get more honest answers from the youngling when it was just the two of them. He kept his voice quiet and soft, as if trying to make sure he didn't speak loud enough to wake anyone else up.

"I'm frustrated, but not upset. Maybe it's some kind of sign?" Ezra looked down right after speaking.

It was stupid to try and help Kanan, he knew more about the force and visions than Ezra did, why did he need his help and advice. Kanan sensed this from the youth.

"That's what I was thinking, but everything is how it was on that day. I've relived it enough to know if I had seen something misplaced in the visions. That would have stood out." Ezra heard the frustration in his voice and felt it. Kanan sighed into his hand, rubbing at his eyes.

The older man was going to take one more sip and then pretend the vision didn't happen like he had the last several days in a row.

"What if something was misplaced before the visions? I mean, what if there was something you overlooked that day but didn't know you overlooked? Like a missing book on the shelf, or a feeling, or if there was something…extra.." Ezra's voice slowed as he felt his master's gaze on him.

Kanan was watching him wide-eyed. Why hadn't he thought of that?

"Kid, you're a genius!" The man said rushed as he took the last gulp of his coffee before leaving in a hurry.

"Kanan?" Ezra cocked an eyebrow in question staring at where his master had left the room. His silent question was answered when he heard the door to Kanan's room open and shut. The older human had gone to meditate.


	3. Chapter 3: Into the Abyss

****Yay! I survived work and I am being rewarded with a completely full day of tomorrow! Unfortunately I will have to adult tomorrow, but I should be able to write another chapter** **Sorry if there are mistakes. I'm working off up no sleep in almost three days.** ~Ocean**

 **Chapter 3: Into the Abyss**

Ezra quietly walked down the hall. He stood in front of his master's room door and waited for a few seconds. His lack of patience got the better of him after several more seconds and he opened the door looking at the human in his normal, meditative position in full concentration.

Kanan knew he was there, he had felt him enter the room, but he didn't care at the moment. That was in the back of his mind, less of a priority. He felt his student shut the door and sit down. He continued to probe his memory, allowing the fragment of his memory to replay, he looked for something out of place. Anything out of place that would give him a clue about the vision.

His padawan stood watching his master in silence. He hated meditating, but he was a little envious at what could be accomplished in this state. He made a mental note to meditate more instead of arguing or coming up with an excuse as to why he couldn't.

The Jedi took the greater part of the early morning and well into the mid-morning meditating. He had new determination to solve this riddle the force had given to him. He had been through the memory more times than he cared to count. He was currently watching himself watch the sun set. It hit him suddenly. He focused more and in the far distance of the horizon and his memory he saw it. A small flash of light reflecting off a metal object.

The man tried to focus more on the object to see what it was. It was too out of focus to be identified though. Kanan knew what they needed to do. He opened his eyes and looked up to see his student asleep against the wall. It looked like Ezra had tried to meditate, himself, from the position he was in. The Jedi smiled at the attempt before it faded, getting up and striding over and waking up his padawan.

"Come on Kid. We need to get a move on." He opened his door and left the boy trying to figure out what was going on.

Kanan went straight to the cockpit. Ezra followed quickly behind thinking there was some kind of trouble.

"What's wrong Kanan?" The young padawan wanted to make sure he was prepared to man one of the turrets if need be, he just needed his master to give him direction.

"Nothing is wrong." Kanan was a little short with his answer. His master's attention was focused on one thing alone, finding the spot where the memory was.

"Hera, I need you to take me somewhere." Hera had long since learned to go along with the cowboy's sporadic tendencies. The Twi-lek fired up the engines.

"Alright love. Where to?" She didn't look at him; she didn't have to. Hera knew he was using the force to guide him. She settled with her hands on the controls waiting for instructions.

The _Ghost_ stayed close to the ground below them, when the Jedi master said to turn, the pilot would turn gracefully and continue on. Hera was good at following quick, precise directions.

"Okay, stop." His voice was finite, but calm.

"Where are we heading to?" Sabine walked into the cockpit, she didn't think they had any upcoming assignments.

"I don't know. Kanan is directing us. He's following a vision…at least I think he is." The younger teen wasn't too sure himself of what was going on. He knew it had to do with the vision.

Kanan left the cockpit and climbed up on top of the ship. He grabbed his com-link and turned it on.

"Okay Hera, go ahead and land. We're in the right spot." The Jedi stayed perfectly still as the landing gear hit the surface of the planet softly. He shut his eyes and concentrated positioning his body just how it was during the vision. When his eyes opened it was the same. He peered far off onto the horizon trying to find something. Ezra walked up beside him and stood next to him looking in the direction his master was.

"This is where we were when you came up to talk to me. I recognize those mountains from then. Why is your vision bringing you here? I don't see anything but desert and hills." The teen's voice was normal, but definitely full of confusion and little frustration. By now, Ezra was confused and tired about not being told what his mentor was doing.

"Light reflected off something. I'm pretty sure a ship, it would only make sense. I'm going to go find out what it was." The older human turned to leave only to discover his student had stepped in his path.

"Stop being so vague Kanan. What did you see? What is going on? Where you are you going? And I'm not going to let you go alone. What if it's some kind of trap? You always tell me that visions can be hard to translate." The kid crossed his arms and looked his master dead in the eye with a frustrated gaze.

Kanan sighed, shutting his eyes and lowering his head for a moment before looking back up.

"You're right. I'm sorry Kid." The cowboy Jedi kept forgetting that he couldn't be reckless rebel Kanan anymore. He had others to think about, and a padawan to guide and be a role model to. He gave Ezra a small smile.

"Let's go get ready and I'll explain while we head there." Kanan gripped Ezra's shoulder reassuringly before walking past him heading back in.

* * *

Kanan called everyone into to common area to explain everything he could; Hera excused the droid because he was running important scans on both the ships and she wanted them to be done before they were called to action.

The brown haired Jedi waited for the small group to get settled before he began, first with the vision from his memory, and then explained that he had Hera take them to the identical location.

"So..what exactly does your vision mean?" The Mandalorian girl was leaning against the table on her elbows paying attention and trying to make sense of it all.

"I don't know. Ezra and I are going to go investigate. I want everyone else to stay here in case we need back up, or you get called for an assignment from the rebel alliance. I felt no danger in the vision, so I don't think there is any." The Jedi took a sip of his second cup of caffeine for the day. He was calm, just like normal, void of any emotion currently.

"And if there's trouble? You're going to be more than 30 klicks away. What if we can't reach you in time?" The Twi-lek had stayed quiet but finally voiced her concern about letting the two venture off alone. Ezra was still having plenty of difficulties doing things that wouldn't get him killed. What if there were imperials….or worse?

"Yeah, the kid still can't hold his sword right. He would be a sitting target waiting for the enemy to strike him." The Lesat gruffly chuckled. Any moment he could find to tease the kid he would.

"It's a lightsaber, and I'm fine. I can defend myself and anyone else that needs it." Ezra bantered back extremely defensive. He had taken the bait and let his anger control him for a brief second.

"Against an Ewok maybe. Not the Empire Kid." Retorted the Mandalorian.

"That's enough you two." The older Jedi half-snapped. Kanan didn't want Zeb or Sabine teasing Ezra about being injured right now. It was a raw subject and he needed his student to have a level-headed mind. It also made him feel that much guiltier that Ezra was still having this many issues. He turned to Hera to answer her concerns next.

"I trust your piloting skills Hera. You've saved us from predicaments with a distance of more than 50 klicks." Kanan was right, Hera would be able to reach them in seconds flat. She just needed the call. That seemed to calm her mind from her worries, only slightly though. The pilot didn't like when her crew had to be separated, but she knew Kanan had his reasoning. She figured this was some kind of Jedi-only adventure.

Hera stood up and walked over to Kanan looking at the remaining three sitting.

"We'll be standing by if you need us then. Just don't be too long. We're coming after you if I haven't heard from you and it's been a full rotation." The older female received a nod of affirmation from the leader of their group before they dispersed.

* * *

Before long, master and student were on a speeder bike heading for the location of Kanan's vision. It took quite a while, the distance seeming much shorter to the human eye because of how clear the air was. It was agreed that with each check in, Hera would extend the amount of time before she flew in for a pick up.

Ezra was sitting behind Kanan on the bike, glad that he had some protection from the sand and wind that was being blown up by the vehicle. Out of nowhere he shivered, a feeling of coldness and dread engulfed him.

"Kanan?..." He needed reassurance from his master. Reassurance that he was okay and reassurance that he wasn't crazy.

"I know kid. I feel it too." Kanan's voice was filled with a mixture of emotions. Ezra mostly felt a calming reassurance encircling him that he knew came from his master.

The Jedi slowed the bike down and parked it where it would be hidden, about 1 kilometer away from his destination. He didn't want it to be spotted or heard.

"We'll walk from here." The older man got off and brought his hand to his mouth.

"Spectre 2, we've parked the bike and we're going to investigate. Stand-by." Kanan didn't wait for the "Roger that Spectre 1" he knew would be returned. He turned off the link and tucked it away. The two continued their trek on foot.

"Tell me Ezra. What do you feel right now?" Spectre 1 looked over to the kid as they neared their destination. Ezra shut his eyes and felt around with his force sensitive mind. He hesitated as he worked to gather the right words.

"I feel…." The young Jedi's eyes clenched shut tighter in concentration. "nothing…just you."

His master sighed, for a second Ezra thought he had failed some kind of test that had been given to him. He was fixing to try again when Kanan spoke up.

"I was afraid you were going to say that….The disturbance vanished…the signature is being blocked…" Kanan almost groaned. He didn't want to deal with an inquisitor, imperialist, bounty hunter, or anything else that would end up with them running for their lives. The older man also knew he couldn't leave this site without answers.

"Kanan?..The feeling…back on the bike. I know that signature…it was the dark entity that I felt from _my_ vision…he's here…." The two stopped short of an extremely old mining shaft about half a kilometer in front of them. Kanan now wasn't going to leave. The monster that caused him to hurt his padawan was somewhere in that cave and needed to be stopped before any more harm could be done.

"He's in there. I know it…I don't know how though." Ezra said quietly and very unsure of himself.

"Trust your feelings and trust the force Ezra. We must stay focused and vigilant. We don't know what kind of being is lurking in the darkness. Are you ready?" Kanan looked down at his padawan. Ezra had come so far in the short while they had been together. While it was true the kid could be obnoxious, lazy and caused a large multitude of problems, the Jedi was extremely proud of what his student was becoming.

"Yes Master." With that, the two of them descended into the mind shaft together. Master and padawan side by side, ready to take on what awaited them in the deep darkness before them.


	4. Chapter 4: Visions

**Chapter 4: Visions of Earthquakes and Death**

"Ow! Why can't we activate a lightsaber so we can see?" Ezra grumbled as he stumped his toe on a rock for the 18th time. It was pitch black, no light at all. The padawan had been following his master, who hadn't made a single noise of distress.

"Would you be quiet! Do you want to alert someone to our location?" His master's voice did not carry above a whisper, but he was getting frustrated and snippy.

"How can I? I keep tripping over sharp rocks. Why aren't you having any problems?" The kid half whined, half argued. He was pretty sure his toes were bleeding and he had several new bruises forming on his legs and shoulder.

"Because my eyes are shut and I'm using the force to see. You don't have to have your eyes. If you would just focus and concentrate, you would be able to see just as easily. It's not that hard." If Ezra could see Kanan's face, he would see pure annoyance. The student could feel his emotions though. Kanan hadn't been like this since the incident several weeks ago.

"Oh…yeah..I forgot..sorry.." The boy said sheepishly. The words stung slightly, he wondered if it was the atmosphere causing his master to become so irate.

Ezra, determined to not make another noise shut his eyes and concentrated how he had been taught. Within moments he could see outlines of walls, rocks and his master. He quickened his pace to catch up.

Kanan sighed. He didn't know what had come over him, but he needed to fix it.

"Sorry Kid…I keep forgetting that you didn't grow up in the Jedi temple like I did. These things still don't come naturally to you. They will in time with practice, but until then, it's my responsibility to teach you to succeed instead of yelling at you for failure." The Jedi's apology was very sincere. He felt bad that he snapped.

"It's okay." Ezra brightened up a bit again, continuing to follow his master.

The tunnel they were in was so narrow that they two couldn't walk side-by-side, and the taller man was just barely able to clear the ceiling sometimes having to duck down to avoid missing rock. It was obvious this mine hadn't been used in a long time because of the layers of dust and the absence of equipment.

They continued to walk in silence, looking for any sign of what they were looking for. The two had already been walking for about half an hour at a fairly deep slope downwards. Ezra shivered. He didn't feel anything, but the temperature of the cave dropping as they continued to descend the shaft.

They continued to walk another half hour before Ezra was brave enough to speak up again.

"Maybe we were wrong Kanan. Maybe they passed overhead or something." Ezra stopped; an all too familiar feeling of dread and cold hit him. He had never been hit this hard before. He fell to his knees trying to make the feeling go away. It was so cold; he felt like death was engulfing him the already dark world began to spin. Ezra could do nothing to stop it.

Kanan heard Ezra's voice change and his whole demeanor reflect darkness. The kid had said something about being cold. He turned just in time to see his padawan hit the ground hard.

* * *

The youth groaned softly as he came to. He had hit his head pretty hard and it was throbbing. Where was he? He tried to look around and almost panicked at the darkness if it weren't for his master who had propped him up and was sending calming waves over him. The kid felt embarrassed that he had passed out.

"Are you okay? You said something about being cold, I turned around and you hit the ground. You've been out for five minutes." Ezra didn't have to use his sight to know that his role model was deeply concerned. Kanan was fixing to pick him up and leave when the boy started to wake.

"You…You didn't feel that…I..I felt so cold…and it felt like something was sucking the life out of me. You didn't feel any of it Kanan?" The padawan felt his master shake his head as he helped up his student. Kanan was concerned that Ezra had gotten a concussion, his student was stuttering and fairly wobbly. He was even more concerned that he hadn't felt what Ezra had.

"There's a chamber up ahead that I saw. Let's check it out, if there's nothing there we're going to head back and get _that_ taken care of." He gently touched the side of Ezra's head. Immediately the boy hissed in pain and withdrew from the touch. Ezra gingerly felt around wincing as he got to a warm, sticky, wet patch of hair and a pretty big gash from his fall.

"Let's hope there's no wild beasts down here that want human blood." The Jedi mildly joked as he continued forward. Ezra was quick to follow and stay right behind his mentor.

"Not funny Kanan." He had heard stories about the creatures that could lurk in the old tunnel systems of mines.

"Zeb would think so." There was a small smile to his voice. Ezra was glad Kanan had lightened up a bit, it was the reassurance the teen needed to get his head back into the game.

"Have you tried to contact them?" The teenager was making sure to keep close.

"We're too far under the ground for the communications link to work." Kanan had tried right after Ezra passed out. All he received was static.

Several moments later they entered an enormous chamber with a ceiling that went up at least 200 feet. Ezra wondered how far down they were from the surface. They were on a ledge with a natural walkway leading down a few hundred feet, to a pool of water. Both humans looked around in awe at the majestic formations all around them. The sound of water dripping of the stalactites was soothing to both Jedi.

Kanan stepped forward a few more steps when another vision hit him.

 _Master and student were running across the chamber to the exit. The cave began to shake, Ezra just barely managed to move before a piece of earth that he had been standing on collapsed and fell several hundred feet down into the watery abyss._

" _Karabast, Kanan what do we do now?" Ezra was having a hard time focusing and kept losing the ability to see as clearly. Without the training Kanan had at the temple, the young Jedi couldn't keep his mind open to the force in times of dire stress._

" _Just run!" The two started to run for the tunnel they had entered through to find it blocked a little way up the shaft. Kanan unsheathed his lightsaber moved Ezra out of the way of a falling chunk before moving them both back to the chamber. The Jedi grew concerned, he stared at the rock. It had a black mark from the lightsaber hitting it, but remained unscathed._

' _What kind of rock is this? Oh this is not good.'_

" _What do we do?!" His student was panicking having a hard time keeping focused. Kanan was doing all he could to keep them dodging falling formations. His had sheathed his lightsaber as it was currently useless to them. He got them to the other side of the chamber to another tunnel._

" _Just breath Ezra and keep focused." The older man wasn't too good at multitasking. He hit his limit with trying to see his surroundings, dodge falling rocks, and remain on the ledge. Trying to calm his student down took him over his limit._

 _Ezra stopped dead in his tracks backing away slightly from the direction Kanan was heading. He felt fear radiating from his student. He felt darkness._

" _Kanan…I feel him…" They heard the unmistakable sound of a lightsaber being activated. There was a flash of red. Ezra screamed in pain. The teenager disappeared into the darkness. Kanan tried but couldn't see his student. All he saw was the red blade in front of him, blocking him from the other tunnel. He unsheathed his lightsaber and got into position._

 **** Sorry guys XD I just love cliffhangers don't you? They're sooooooooo much fun. If you want me to post the next chapter later tonight just let me know. Otherwise you'll be waiting until tomorrow evening or Friday for it. I'm going to go do some Xmas baking with my mom now :D Hope you enjoyed! ** ~Ocean**


	5. Chapter 5: Blind Fight

****Okay, no more cliffhanger...for now MUHAHAHAHA! I'm good about updating though so you never have to wait long. :) 2nd attempt at a battle scene. Hope you enjoy! ** ~Ocean**

 **Chapter 5: Blind Fight**

Kanan snapped to attention as his vision ended.

" _Karabast!"_

"Ezra, RUN!"

Ezra was struggling to get his bearings as he followed his master; his head was throbbing and making any kind of focus nearly impossible. The cave started to rumble and shake; small pieces of the ceiling began to come down on top of them in a light shower. As the shaking worsened, Ezra just barely managed to move before a piece of earth that he had been standing on collapsed and fell several hundred feet down into the watery abyss.

"Karabast, Kanan what do we do now?" Ezra was having a hard time focusing and kept losing the ability to see as clearly. He needed the older man to make some kind of logic out of everything.

Kanan had seen all of this in his vision. Maybe, if he could get to the shaft before it closed, if Ezra could just get out, everything would be okay.

"Just run, to the tunnel!" The two started to run for the tunnel they had entered through, Kanan kept his student in the front.

The older male cursed out loud when he found it blocked off just like in the vision. Kanan grabbed Ezra and shoved him unsheathing his lightsaber to make a failed attempt to cut through a huge chunk of the tunnel coming down.

"Kid, we're in trouble, and I mean BIG trouble." Kanan knew what would happen next, he refused to allow his student to be killed. He would sacrifice himself first if that's what it took.

"What do we do?" Ezra was radiating fear and was stumbling more and more unable to see clearly. The kid had been in many life or death scenarios, but being buried a live was not one he had ever thought of. Kanan was doing all he could to keep the two of them dodging the falling formations. He kept his lightsaber out this time instead of shutting it off, hoping it would change his vision somehow.

"Get your lightsaber ready Ezra." He heard his student's weapon unsheathe. He felt a twinge of pain and knew it still hurt the kid to hold it properly.

"Just breath and keep focused kid, we're going to be okay." The master focused on getting Ezra a little calmer than he had done in his vision. He would change this vision, even if it killed him.

Ezra however, stopped dead in his tracks backing away slightly from the direction Kanan was heading. Ezra dropped his lightsaber falling to his knees wrapping his arms around himself. Kanan felt fear radiating from his student. He felt the darkness around them.

"Kanan…I feel him…it's so cold…" The Jedi heard the lightsaber behind him and got in front of Ezra, he held his weapon in front of him focusing on his new enemy. He saw nothing but the sword, there was no body that he could see.

There was a flash of red moving towards them. He heard his student cry out in pain behind him as a big formation fell separating the two of them right where Ezra was. Kanan luckily parried the red blade back before it could hit him during his distraction.

"Ezra!" The teenager had disappeared into the darkness. Kanan tried but couldn't see his student, he couldn't feel him. He turned his attention back to the blade and got into position.

"Pity, I was hoping that beautiful rock would land on both of you and make my job easier. You knew it wouldn't though, didn't you Jedi?" The voice was full of malice and disappointment.

Kanan didn't say anything and just watched the blade. The Jedi didn't like that he couldn't see his target. He especially hated that the voice was toying with him and keeping him from locating his padawan.

"Kanan Jarus. The one padawan that got away. Tell me, how is life treating you these days? You're down your padawan so you should feel a huge burden off your shoulder. I bet you still carry the death of your beloved master on them though. Wasn't it your fault that she was killed?" The voice was taunting, Kanan was doing everything to keep level headed.

Kanan could feel his anger creeping up. It was how he felt weeks ago when he had been so harsh with his student.

"Heh, Jokes on you. All three of us are going to die in here because you sealed the exit." He wasn't that wrong, or so he thought. He ignored the comment about his master; he had no clue how a bodiless voice knew so much about him.

"That is where you are wrong my dear." Kanan felt darkness enveloping his very soul as it swirled around his body; he shivered involuntarily.

"I am nothing but a shadow. My lightsaber is the only thing real, but don't worry, it's still deadly." Kanan dodged a blow and attacked the air, the sword disappeared and reappeared behind him swinging. The Jedi barely dodged in time, the blade nicked his shoulder armor.

Kanan growled in frustration as he jumped up onto a ledge several feet up to try and get a better angle.

"That's right _Master_ Kanan, or should I say _Padawan_ Caleb Dume. Release your anger, get your revenge for the death of your student."

"I don't go by that name anymore. Caleb Dume died." The Jedi said through gritted teeth.

He was granted only a few short seconds before the lightsaber advanced on him. He couldn't predict what would happen without a body to feel. The Jedi master was left with dodging and going all defensive just to stay alive.

Luckily for him, there were plenty of ledges after the earthquake and the Sith's saber had no advantage over his own when it came to the type of rock the cavern was made from.

* * *

Kanan was wearing out fast. Within several minutes, he had multiple cuts from not dodging quickly enough. The Jedi landed roughly, on a ledge, a few hundred feet up, almost at the top of the cavern. He saw the red saber down near the bottom.

The male figured he had a few moments of rest to try and gain some kind of edge. He was dead wrong; the sword came flying at him fast without any warning. It struck Kanan's lightsaber with such force that knocked him off balance causing him to fall off his perch. The human was able to grab the ledge before tumbling to his death, but now he was dangling on the edge of life or death.

Ezra felt pain as he came to. The padawan tried to move which only earned him more pain. Everything came flooding back quickly and he tried to look around. Ezra didn't see his master anywhere. The youth had gotten lucky and had backed away enough that only his arm was hit by the falling rock.

Pain shot up his already bad hand as he attempted to push himself up on it; he knew it was broken. The teenager managed to finally push himself up.

Ezra heard the battle commencing somewhere above him, but couldn't find words through his fog to call for his master. He couldn't feel anything of their bond; he was too numb. The youngling willed himself to jump over the rock that had separated the youth from his mentor just moments before and fell pretty hard not moving for several minutes.

Ezra shut his eyes and tried to focus. He had to do something, he could hear Kanan's groans of pain; his master was losing the battle; the young padawan wasn't about to let that happen.

The young Jedi was finally able to focus enough that he could see, he looked up and saw Kanan moving from ledge to ledge, pillar to pillar trying to stay alive.

Ezra saw the red blade but found it strange that the source of its power was not coming from where it actually was. The darkness the boy felt was radiating from further down the tunnel in front of him. Ezra forced himself up and stumbled forward, he almost tripped over something and looked down. His lightsaber had managed to avoid the rock as well. The teen grabbed it and held it in his non-dominant hand. The feeling was weird still, but later he would thank his master for making him practice with the wrong hand.

The younger Jedi followed the signature of pure darkness. It made him cold, and made him feel horrible, but his master wouldn't survive if he didn't do this. He finally made it into the tunnel. There, he focused and strained. In the darkness, he saw a figure sitting in a meditative state hidden from the cavern's view.

Ezra could feel that this was the source of power.

* * *

"You are going to die along with your precious padawan." Kanan was struggling to get himself back up without dropping his lightsaber. He did the next best thing and allowed himself to drop, hitting another ledge about 40 feet down. The Jedi was breathing hard, his body shaking from exhaustion. He wasn't about to give up yet though. Somehow he knew Ezra was alive. That alone kept him going.

Ezra hesitated. The figure was not even six feet from him, but seemed to hold no recognition of the young teenager right in front of him. He knew if he killed the creature before him, they would be free of the darkness.

The problem was that Ezra had never killed before. He didn't think he could go through with it, until he heard his master yell in pain. The student's mind exploded with the pain Kanan felt, then nothing. Ezra straightened up and held the hilt of his lightsaber out.

The younger Jedi didn't think twice after that and unsheathed his lightsaber striking the figure down. His thought was not on revenge or anger, it was of protecting his friend and his family.

A high-pitched scream filled the air of the cave system. Ezra felt the cavern shaking at his feet. The padawan saw and heard the red saber coming at him. He knew wouldn't have time to draw his light saber. He shut his eyes, and braced himself for his death.

It never came. Ezra slowly opened his eyes to see his master in front of him, lightsaber out. He had blocked the final attack of the dark apprentice.

"Kanan?" Ezra still couldn't sense his master. He was freezing and having a hard time staying conscious by this point and figured that had something to do with it. Kanan turned to face his student and wrapped his arms tightly around Ezra in a protective hug.

"I was so scared that I had lost you..I never want to lose you Ezra." The youth could feel the man trembling against him. Now that the fight was over and there was a physical connection, he could feel the fear and pain radiating from his master.

"Can't get rid of me that easily. You still have too many tricks to teach me. Sorry if that ruins any plans for a vacation." He could feel Kanan smile against the top of his head. For the few seconds they were like this, neither of them cared about their injuries, or that they were trapped thousands of feet below the surface.

Kanan finally let him go after he had calmed himself down. He felt pain all over, he had falling over 150 feet and had a light saber strike him. It was all worth it if Ezra was still alive.

"I don't know what you did kid…but thank you. You saved both of us from certain death. You are turning into a wonderful Jedi and a good man." Kanan had never been more proud of his padawan at that moment.

"Let's find a way out before a cave dweller really does find and eat us." The Jedi kept a hand on Ezra's good shoulder having sensed the injury and started heading deeper into the tunnel with his student. They were both glad that it was wide enough that they could walk side by side.

The slope had evened out and almost seemed to be slanting upwards. Kanan had decided that would be the path they took as it was the only one.

"You know…Hera is going to kill us for getting banged up like this." Kanan heard the quiver in Ezra's voice, the youth was hardly conscious and was cold. Hera had told the older male that because of his hypothermic case several weeks ago, he would be much more susceptible to cold temperatures. The cave was cool, but not cold; Ezra's body argued that. Kanan had nothing to keep him warm.

"Yeah…she'll ground us and make us do chores." As long as his student was conscious, Kanan was going to try and keep the conversation up beat. He knew it would help both of them.


	6. Chapter 6: Concerns and Shock

**** Hey guys, bet most everyone is out to watch the new Star Wars movie. I'm not, it's strange but I'm not that interested in it. Going to continue my baking and work on a chapter of my Xmas fic. Feel free to PM me if ya wanna talk. Also trying to think of some new ideas for future fanfics if you have any. I'm up for any kind. I've gotten some requests for a KxE fic, an ExS, a death fic, and a few song fics. A lot have said just to let my imagination decide lol That could get dangerous! (aka more blood and torture lol) Anyway, Enjoy!** ~Ocean**

 **Chapter 6: Concerns and Shock**

Sabine and Zeb watched as the pilot of the _Ghost_ paced. Normally she was the calm and patient one, but she was growing concerned that there had been no contact for almost half a rotation. She had promised Kanan one full rotation since the last contact, but her instincts were telling her otherwise.

"I'm sure they're fine Hera. Those two always get out of trouble when they find it." The Lesat was getting dizzy watching her pace. He was concerned, but he knew that they had been given orders.

"I know. I have this gut instinct that something happened though." She knew better than to try and contact him, in case they were in a predicament and it gave away their location.

"The boys are smart enough. I'm sure at any moment we're going to hear the kid's voice whining about how Kanan was trying to make him do something he didn't want. Or Kanan yelling at him because he did something stupid." Sabine was getting a little dizzy as well. It wasn't unusual for them to not have contact for long periods of time due to risk. Hera rarely had a gut feeling though.

"12 hours and I'm going after them. I'm not waiting another 18 hours for this space rock to go all the way around." She didn't care that it wasn't going to be a full rotation, 12 hours was long enough.

* * *

"You gonna make it Kid?" Kanan stopped and looked behind him. His student was lagging even more than the previous time he asked him about an hour ago. The Jedi hurt all over himself, and blood loss was causing him to feel extremely light headed. He just wanted to get out of the mine. They had already been walking for several hours with no sign of daylight. What time was it anyway? Was Hera looking for them?

"Yeah…" Ezra's voice sounded tired and slurred, and his body was slouched. The young teen was gripping his broken arm with his good one in hopes of keeping it from being jostled so much. Kanan watched him shiver as he attempted to speed up tripping over a rock and falling forward.

Not so strong arms caught the kid gently, making sure to avoid his arm. Ezra didn't know where Kanan had been injured, his master wouldn't say, just that it was a flesh wound. Kanan straightened him up a bit and looked him over.

"Let's sit and rest for a few moments." Ezra protested as Kanan helped the young padawan sit down and lean against the wall of the cave.

"I'm fine Kanan, we can keep going." The kid sounded pathetic and looked the same. He was trying to show Kanan how not weak he was; he failed miserably at his attempt.

Before sitting down, Kanan tried the comm just in case and sighed as his answer was static. He sat down next to his student wondering how he was going to get them back up and moving, and wondering how they were going to get out. The older human felt his young partner lean against him.

"You're cold too…." The boy's voice was distant, exactly how Kanan felt. Ezra didn't feel Kanan's normal warmth. He started to drift, luckily his master took notice.

"I know kid…I know…Come on, let's keep going. You can't fall asleep right now. You're too cold, and you probably have a fairly serious concussion." Kanan forced himself up fighting back a small groan of pain. The adrenaline was really beginning to slow down; everything was getting hazy.

Ezra was soon standing again with the help of his master. The pair walked in silence for a while, the older of the two walking much more slowly this time, making sure to stay with the youngest.

"Kanan?...how bad are you injured?...Honestly?…you can trust me…don't have to act so tough…" The youngling was concerned about his friend and master. That and he wanted to know how Kanan still had so much stamina.

The Jedi let out a deep breath, wincing. If they were going to die down here, he may as well die with a good master/student bond.

"Pretty bad…the wound has stopped bleeding _for now_. I have some broken bones, but I've had much worse. Ezra, I'm really sorry about all this, about everything. I'm not that good of a master or teacher. I don't see why you want to stay with me. I should have never brought you down here." Kanan knew the blood loss was really kicking in. The man was talking like he had too many drinks with Zeb. He was being very open about his feelings.

"It's not your fault master. We talked about all this before. I don't want another master; I think you're the best. I trust you with my life." Kanan smiled softly, he could feel their bond strengthening; however, along with it, he could feel the pain and weakened state of his student. The Jedi knew he needed to get them someplace where he could take care of his student, even if temporarily.

The force answered his prayers several minutes later. The pair stepped into another cavern, but this one had once been a control station of the miners. That meant that they had to be close to the surface; he once again tried to comm and growled as it died. The Jedi scanned the area and found the electrical switch walking over and trying it. Nothing.

"There should at least be a bed you can…Ezra?" Kanan looked behind him, the teenager had collapsed still conscious and numb to pain. The kid was starting to drift though. Kanan walked over and gently scooped him up biting back his own pain as he positioned his charge against him. He started to walk towards one of the buildings.

"Come on Ezra. Just a little more. Why don't you plan a prank we can play on Chopper when we get back?" Ezra needed to stay awake. His signature was weak, and with how cold he was Kanan wasn't sure his student would wake up if he fell asleep.

"Don't want to…no more zapping…" The Jedi chuckled as he entered what looked to be a bunker house. He sighed in relief to find he was right.

The room was small, most likely the director's house. There was a table with chairs, a small bed, a fireplace and lots of dusty items that could possibly be rations. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust.

Kanan placed the teen on a chair while he got the bed dusted. It smelled musty, but it would provide warmth for the hypothermic and concussed kid. He helped Ezra to the bed and got him covered with the blanket.

The Jedi thought about breaking up the table and starting a fire, but with how old everything was, he didn't want to risk a much larger fire or explosion. Kanan looked around finding an extra blanket folded up in a small chest and placed it on Ezra as well.

Using some tinder, he lit a small lamp on the table to provide some light. The older Jedi checked himself out; he had been gripping his side where he had been stabbed by the cursed red blade. He withdrew his hand to show blood staining it; he must have reopened the wound after he picked up Ezra. Kanan looked around finding something he could use to immobilize Ezra's arm. The human picked a few items and tore up strips of some dusty rags lying around.

Kanan glanced over at the kid, bringing the light closer. He was glad for the true light; the Jedi almost couldn't see anymore as his focus started to decline.

Kanan gently withdrew the covers to look at his arm, the man visibly cringed. The upper part of Ezra's arm was definitely broken, the bone obviously needing to be reset.

" _Would he even wake up? I could do it really fast, using the force and then splint it. I'm really really sorry Ezra._ " He got everything set up and sent calming waves towards the younger male. Kanan set to work, he shut his eyes and concentrated on the two ends of bone; moments later deep in the cave there was the sound of Ezra screaming in pain as the bone was rest.

"I'm sorry kid. I had to." Kanan felt nauseous and horrible for having just caused so much pain to the now fully unconscious boy. He quickly got the splint secured tightly and immobilized Ezra's arm. He looked at his work knowing that it would work at least until they got back to the shift.

Ezra was starting to shiver violently; Kanan was starting to fear that the teenager was going into shock because of all the stress his body had endured. His signature was wavering violently and getting weaker. He moved the kid over very gently and climbed into the bed next to him. Kanan pulled him close and continued to use the force to try and calm Ezra's mind and body down.

It took a while, but finally Ezra's body calmed even though he was still shivering. The older Jedi kept him close fading into unconsciousness as everything finally caught up to him.


	7. Chapter 7: The Search Begins

**Chapter 7: The Search Begins**

8 hours into the wait and Hera was going stir crazy. Something did not feel right; the feeling had not left her, but had in fact gotten worse.

"I'm not waiting any longer. Kanan will just have to be mad at me." She announced as she got up and headed for the cockpit.

"It's about time." Sabine said as she got up to follow. She was growing concerned as well that they had heard nothing from the two.

Hera sat down in her seat and fired up the engines heading for where her two Jedi were last seen heading. She got there within moments and landed quickly.

Zeb was already in the bay waiting with his bo-rifle. He was under the terms that no one was allowed to harass his little buddy except him. If someone had hurt the kid, they were going to pay.

"So what's yer plan? We just going to go in and shoot up the place, or going in stealthy?" He has patting his rifle affectionately.

The ramp was down and the female teen didn't wait she was out heading for the mine entrance.

"Kanan said something about a mine being abandoned and going into it, so that's where we start." She said out loud as she passed them.

"Guys wait. We need some kind of plan, what if there are imperials?" The Twi-lek had forgotten that if she went gung-ho and threw a mission out the window, her crew usually followed.

She looked over to see Zeb and Sabine stopped about 15 feet from the entrance to the mining system.

"Yeah….like how to do we get in. The Entrance has been sealed. Doesn't look like the work of explosions, but of a cave in…." Hera's heart stopped as she heard Sabine. She jogged over and surveyed the area. Zeb had ventured closer trying to move some of the rocks.

"There is no way these are gonna budge." He turned to see Hera heading for the ship.

"Hera?" Sabine knew Hera was upset. That was a huge understatement.

"Sabine, pull up all records of mines on this planet. I want you to find this one and a map of the whole system. Chopper and Zeb, do an aerial scan see if you can find another entrance. One that isn't caved in." The Twi-lek got on the communications link with the rebel alliance.

Commander Sato appeared on the screen in front of the pilot.

"Captain Syndulla. Always good to see you, even if it's unexpected. What can I do for you?" The commander always had such formalities. Right now Hera wasn't in the mood.

"I need to speak with Ahsoka, Commander. It's a matter of life or death." Hera relaxed slightly when she saw the face of the Togruta appear.

"What is the matter my friend?" Ahsoka's face didn't change but she could feel the worry and concern being emitted from the pilot.

"Kanan and Ezra went into a mining system following the signature of a force user. That was over 24 hours ago. I didn't like the idea from the start, but we agreed to wait a full rotation of 36 hours…The mine has caved in and we still cannot contact them. I'm worried something happened down there." Hera's hands were trembling slightly from the stress. Her motherly nature was showing. She couldn't bare the loss of any of her family members.

"You wish for me to try and sense them and locate them that way? It will take me a few hours, but I will head to your location." The Togruta's neutral behavior never once faltered.

"Sending coordinates now. Thank you." Hera shut off the screen and fell back in her chair. Something had happened to them. She could feel it deep down, and yet she was useless to help them without extra help. She wanted to cry, but knew that tears would be worthless right now. She got up to find Sabine.

Sabine was looking over different mining systems when Hera walked into the commons.

"There's over 300 systems on this section of the planet. I've narrowed it down to two mines in this location." The Mandalorian girl brought up the mines showing them to Hera. The older woman pondered over them, staring at them with hard eyes as if expecting her two Jedi boys to come leaping out of the holo.

"It's this one. I recognize the name from a sign I saw on the ground." She motioned to the one on the right side. Sabine deleted the other and enlarged it into a 3D rotating image.

"Well…it's the largest and oldest one. Of course they would have to pick this one." The young stated with mild irritation.

"It was closed down, labeled as dangerous after a series of cave-ins killed 30 workers. It's been untouched since." She read the description on the smaller, non holo screen.

"So we don't know which shafts have already been destroyed and which ones Kanan and Ezra traveled down..Still, it's something to go off of." She was turning her gears to think more on the positive line again. Negativity had never gotten her anywhere in life. She radioed Zeb.

"Anything Spectre 4?" She knew not to get her hopes up.  
"Nothing Spectre 2. Me and Spectre 3 see nothing but rocks and sand. We're coming back now to regroup."

Hera sighed and continued to study the map. The system was huge and covered hundreds if not thousands of miles of tunnels and chambers. Its deepest point was at least a mile deep if not deeper. How were they going to find them?

She resigned to the fact that they would have to wait for the other force sensitive humanoid before they would have hopes of finding her boys. The Twi-lek started a pot of coffee before continuing to search through the map with Sabine. The two remaining spectres joined several minutes later, trying to come up with some plan to save their Jedi's.

* * *

Ezra could feel warmth, he tried to move but groaned. Everything hurt, his head, his arm, his very soul.

" _What happened?_ " He willed his eyes open to find him right up against Kanan's warm long sleeved shirt. Everything came flooding back and he tried to sit up earning a small cry of pain as he settled back. That had been a stupid mistake. He looked around the room, the lamp was still dimly burning giving some light.

"Kanan?" The youngling called quietly, as if he was scared someone else would hear. He got worried when he didn't get a reply so he tried again louder.

"Hey..Kanan?" Ezra shut his eyes and tried to feel for his master's signature. Nothing. What had Kanan told him again? The youth thought for a moment. Kanan said that after a bond is formed, you could feel a signature unless the other was too far away…or dead…

"Kanan!" The boy somewhat, weakly, kneed his master as the thought struck fear in his head. He was rewarded with a small groan and a tiny spark of a signature. This wasn't good. If Kanan was really hurt, what where they going to do. How were they going to get out?

"Ezra?..." Kanan had been floating in darkness until he felt the sharp pain in his shin sending him back to consciousness. He felt weak, he couldn't move; each breath felt like molten lava. The Jedi could feel an infection setting in, with that and the amount of blood he had lost he knew if they didn't get out soon, his padawan would be without a master.

"Yeah, it's me. Where are we? I remember finding a command station…then everything was black." Besides the pain and cold, Ezra was feeling better. He could feel that his master wasn't the same.

"We're in a bunk house….Hey kid…think you can get up and walk now?" Kanan's voice was very weak and almost slurred. His student immediately grew more concerned for his master; he had never seen Kanan in this state before.

"Yeah, you ready to get moving again?" Ezra forced himself up biting back pain as he moved his arm slightly.

"I want you to follow the tunnel system. It should be a straight shot out….a few hours walk…." He knew he couldn't make the walk, but he also knew his student wouldn't leave him there so he added.

"That's an order, padawan." He tried to be serious, but with how weak he was. He sounded really pathetic.

Ezra looked at him incredulously. He knew something was terribly wrong if his master was sending him away, alone. The padawan looked down at his master and saw all the blood staining the blankets and bed.

"You're hurt.. bad Kanan…I'm not leaving you. You can go screw your stupid order." Ezra was starting to get really scared. It was a lot of blood, and that was just here, how much had his master lost.

"Look kid." Kanan started strong but his strength faltered and he exhaled sharply as his body went lax, giving up.

"I know you don't want to leave me….but if you get out you can get the others to come get me…I'll be fine for that amount of time…" The Jedi wasn't going to promise him. In actuality, he knew that within a few more hours with how bad he was, he would be dead. He didn't want Ezra to have to watch it.

Ezra hesitated, but he trusted his master and friend.

"Okay Kanan…but I'll be right back with Hera and the others and then we'll get you taken care of. I promise." The kid didn't like this plan, but Kanan had a point. The only way to help him was to get the others. He got up and situated Kanan the best he could, covering him with the blankets. Kanan exhaled softly again not opening his eyes.

"May the force be with you, Ezra Bridger." He was quickly fading back into unconsciousness.

"And with you Master." The young Jedi got up and left the building to find an exit, he didn't know that by the time he would return, his master would no longer be alive.

 ****Okay...so I know it's a cliffhanger...but I couldn't find a better place to stop. Still trying to decide on the outcome of this fic. Hope you enjoy the chapter :)** ~Ocean**


	8. Chapter 8: Never Alone

**Chapter 8: Never Alone**

Ezra had gotten halfway down the pathway to the next tunnel when he slowed. The force was telling him not to go forward, but to go back to his master. At first Ezra didn't want to listen, but the small Kanan voice in the back of his head made him stop.

" _What am I doing? Kanan would never leave me."_ The young Jedi turned back around and made his way the short distance back. His arm throbbed in pain and his head was a sharp stabbing migraine that blurred his vision, which didn't really mean anything right now. Something just kept urging him to go back and he did what his master had taught him to do, trust the force.

Kanan was trying to stay conscious still but failing miserably. He felt the bed move and shift. He opened his eyes slightly and looked around, his vision was too hazed to see anything; he did feel the presence of his student.

"So, I decided against leaving you. Walking alone would be too boring, and what if I fell? I'd be alone in a cave, waiting for a creature to come finish me off. Besides, I think Hera would kill me." Ezra talked with his normal sarcastic voice.

Kanan was a little irritated by his student's lack of discipline. He had given his padawan a simple task, and the boy didn't follow it. Part of him was glad that Ezra had come back. The Jedi had been alone for so long, this boy changed all that. Ezra had brought him fully out of the shadows. Even Hera had never done that.

Ezra read the irritation on his masters face and grinned.

"Don't even start with the whole 'Leave me, save yourself' spill. You would do the same for me, so you're being my role model. Besides, the force brought me back to you. Doesn't that mean something?" The young teen stated casually, knowing he'd probably hear about it later.

"You're right…" The older Jedi forced himself up into a sitting position. It took every ounce of his being to get up and Ezra saw that. The kid helped his master as much as he could, allowing Kanan to lean heavily on his good side. The two began their very slow shuffle to get to an exit. Kanan kept a tight hand around his abdomen where most of the blood seemed to be coming. His green shirt was completely ruined.

"Would you have made it if I had left you?...and don't lie to me." His student asked quietly but with a bitter undertone. Ezra could feel the weakness; no, it was something else, it was a very strange feeling coming off Kanan. One his student had never felt before. He continued.

"I don't want to lose another person that I love Kanan. My parents were hard enough. I don't know what I'd do without you." The teenager said very solemnly. He realized how he sounded and quickly added in his normal tone.

"Besides. I don't really think I could find another master to replace you. Finding one would be hard enough….finding another one like you would be impossible. From what I hear, they all have sticks up their butts with rules and discipline and training." Kanan gave a small smile. It seemed to slightly renew his will to continue on despite the obvious amount of pain the man was in.

"I needed that. Thanks Kid." The man thought for a moment before he decided to just let the kid know.  
"I'm bleeding internally pretty bad. Eventually, I will bleed out if something isn't done. I just didn't want you to have to witness me dying." Kanan was getting very good with being honest and admitting things to his student. If he kept it up, Ezra would know everything about the green-eyed Jedi.

"Well I would rather watch you die, than have you die alone. I think that is the worst thing someone could go through…I mean, if my parents are dead..at least they have each other. No one should have to die alone." The Kid stated quietly concentrating hard on the ground below their feet. For the longest time, he thought he was going to die alone on the streets. It was the worst feeling he had ever had.

Kanan's foot caught a rock and he went forward. Ezra managed to catch the older male as he stumbled and started to fall.

"If I live through this…remind me to _never_ go into a mine again. Ever." Kanan tried to lighten the mood a little. He was still very unconfident that he was going to live. But the Kid, Ezra was giving him a chance to do so.

"How about if we get out of here. You owe me a favor?" A small through crossed Ezra's mind as he spoke; he didn't expect Kanan to oblige.

"Anything Kid. I will owe you my life if you can get us out of here." The Jedi wasn't thinking straight and didn't see the mischievous look on his students face. They had only walked about 50 feet, but to both the injured humans, it felt like 50 miles.

Kanan fell into his thoughts as he struggled to place one foot in front of the other. If he had stayed with his master, would she have survived?

" _No, I would have been killed too. She told me to run because she wanted me to live. She knew something would happen in the future and wanted me to be part of it. She saved my life and I owe her by staying alive."_ The Jedi didn't realize that they had stopped until Ezra spoke up.

"I think I just found our ticket out of this blasted cave." The kid sounded excited. Kanan looked up and to where Ezra was looking. There was a flat transporter, covered in cobwebs and dust.

"I wonder if it works." Ezra made he was over there with Kanan, poking a few buttons. The thing sputtered but powered on and began to levitate.

"Yes! Kanan, I can push you on this so you don't have to exert your body anymore…Kanan?" The Jedi was beginning to slump more as he body started to give. Ezra got him on the transporter and stopped, thinking for a moment before going back, returning with the lantern and the blankets and a pillow. The Kid could walk at an almost normal pace without Kanan. The youngling got Kanan settled as best as he could while Kanan was still slightly cognitive. Soon, his master was unconscious again. The padawan knew he needed to hurry.

"Hold on Kanan…just a little longer. I don't want to be alone again, please... For the first time since my parents…I feel like I finally belong somewhere and my life isn't useless…I like not feeling like I'm never alone…" He started to head towards the next tunnel system.

* * *

Ahsoka's shuttle ship landed next to the ghost. She got out and was met by Hera and the crew.

"What is the best way to do this? I currently have Zeb and Chopper out looking for them again, but so far no luck." The pilot asked full of worry. Her arms were crossed as she asked. Zeb and Chopper had left just about an hour ago to do another scan of the area.

"We have a map of the system they're in. I've seen Kanan look through files and things with his Jedi powers. Would that help you any?" Sabine sounded tired. She had been up for a long while, but she wasn't going to rest until they were found.

"Perhaps. Let's see." The Togruta followed them into the ship to the commons area. Sabine pulled the map back up again for Ahsoka to view. The female shut her eyes, holding out her hand as she concentrated on the map, trying to see where the two Jedi were. She remained like this for several minutes before she opened her eyes.

"Here." She stated calmly as she pointed to a tunnel about half a mile under and far away from where they started. The nearest entrance had been marked as a cave in, but the current tunnel lead straight to the opening.

"Both of them are injured…. but Kanan…I can barely feel his signature. He's either dead or dying. I can feel Ezra's sadness and fear." She looked away from the map to see just the Mandalorian watching her. She felt the ship start up and the pilot take off heading for the far entrance of the mine. Ahsoka turned her attention back to the map and looked over it. The Togruta frowned. She was concerned about both of them. She didn't like what the force was telling her.

After a while she got up and left, heading to the medical bay to get things started. The former padawan was able to force heal, but she could not do both, and she knew Kanan would be on the brink of death. They had no access to a bacta-tank thanks to the Empire so they would need a lot of resources ready.

 **** I feel bad that I keep leaving Zeb and Chopper out of the storyline…but this is mainly supposed to be for Kanan and Ezra. I'm still trying to learn more about their personalities before I can keep them in character better; their characters are much more challenging to me. Anyway,** **I have tomorrow off so I'll get to do a lot more writing! Yay! Hope you enjoyed! ** ~Ocean**


	9. Chapter 9: Escape

**Chapter 9: Escape**

Ezra had been walking for at least an hour. He had made it up the tunnel. Now, the young padawan was shivering again, and fighting consciousness. The pain in his arm, from many failed attempts to help push the transporter, was growing by the second. He stopped to rest looking down at his master.

The lamp created a dim light, just enough to see the shadows of Kanan's face. The Jedi was pale, his eyes shut tight. Ezra was really worried; would he be able to save his master?

The teen began to push the transport again, the path had narrowed greatly, the transport barely fit with no wiggle room on either side. Ezra felt like someone was probing his mind, trying to locate him. He tried to block it out in case it was the master of the Sith they had just encountered.

"Finally!" Ezra exclaimed out loud to himself as the tunnel finally opened to another small chamber. The air didn't smell so musty and damp, maybe he was near the surface. The young human continued on, not realizing that the pathway was unstable.

The teen put his foot down in one area, and the ledge he had been walking on collapsed sending him sliding down about 45 feet into a small crystal clear lake at the bottom of the chamber. He hit the water hard, his ankle sending a shock of pain up his leg as he cried out softly in pain.

The water was freezing cold and waste deep. Ezra tried to get out, but with one hand unusable and his ankle now swelling, the boy found the plan a failure from the start. He looked up from where he fell. He could see the transport and the glowing light of the old lamp. He sighed, at least Kanan was safe and hadn't fallen.

Ezra looked around trying to find some place to get out. He saw a small embankment and started to make his way over. As he did, he found the water getting deeper and the padawan had to stop. Growing up how he did, Ezra had never learned how to swim.

In the silence, he could hear his teeth chattering. The youth felt around the walls, finally finding a place to get out. Ezra was tired and found it hard, but with a little help of the force he was able to get out of the water and onto dry land. That was about as far as his mind and body allowed. The boy curled up shivering, shutting his eyes as the darkness claimed him.

Right before falling unconscious the young teen felt a familiar presence and someone touch his neck gently, checking for a pulse.

* * *

As soon as Hera landed she was out looking for the shaft's entrance. Ahsoka was close behind her. The Togruta was the first to find it. The entrance was covered in a metal grid to keep people out. The muscle of the crew found no trouble at all pulling it out of place and tossing it to the side.

"We must be careful of noise and heavy vibrations, otherwise another cave in may happen." Ahsoka said in a warning tone. She was not fond of caves for that very reason; none of the crew was.

"Agreed, everyone stay quiet and walk softly." The pilot agreed as she got her flashlight out. Sabine stayed this time to keep an eye out with Chopper for Imperials. That was the last thing they needed right now. The other three quickly made their way into the mine shaft.

Unlike the paths that Kanan and Ezra had taken, the one from the new entrance had many twists and paths to take. Ahsoka led them all and within the hour had reached the chamber where Kanan and Ezra were in.

"Kanan!" Hera shouted as she saw the dying Jedi on the transport. The battery had died and the transport was on the ground. Kanan did not respond to her shout, but the cave did. It rumbled softly and a few formations came crashing from the ceiling.

"You must stay quiet Captain…this room is very unstable and dangerous. It can fall at any given moment." Ahsoka and Zeb caught up with Hera who was kneeling next to their leader checking him over.

"He still has a pulse…. he's cold as ice." Concern flooded the Twi-lek's voice as she looked at the pale Jedi.

"So where's the kid?" Zeb looked around not seeing Ezra anywhere. He wondered if the kid had been taken.

Ahsoka stood straight and shut her eyes trying to locate Ezra, his signature had almost been snuffed out but it was just enough.

"He's over there." She looked over at where Ezra was laying shining the light. She took a leap and fell downwards landing gracefully next to the boy. She checked him over, seeing that he had many injuries, before she gathered him into her arms using her Jedi strength and the force, and made her way back up the slope. Jumping as much as she dared, the former padawan used her instincts to tell her which areas were not stable enough. Soon she was back with the others.

"Ezra is not well either. He has multiple broken bones. I can help heal them, but let's get out of the mine first. I do not want it to cave in." The others nodded in agreement. Zeb picked up Kanan keeping the blanket around him and the team made their way back as fast as they could.

Right as they were about the hit the surface, Sabine radioed in.

"We have company coming guys. At least 20 TIE fighters about 20 klicks from the ship and closing in fast." Her voice was the same as it was during assignments and missions. Serious beyond her age.

Hera grabbed her link.

"We have Spectre 1 and 6 and heading back now, we should get back in a few minutes. Get the ship fired up and ready to go. Chopper, man the turret. Keep them busy until we can get on the ship." She heard the unique signature sound of the TIEs as they screamed overhead. They still had at least a hundred meters left before they got to the entrance and were able to get out.

The battle between the _Ghost_ and the TIEs could be heard and it was starting to make the whole system threaten to fall in.

"Sabine, get them away from the ground. It's going to cause a cave in." She said into the comm link. She heard the _Ghost_ take off.

"We're going to make it guys. Just hold on." Hera said as she started to sprint. Zeb and Ahsoka followed suit. The Togruta was the last in line and had to jump to dodge a huge rock that fell as another TIE screamed past.

"Karabast! Why did they have to choose a mine shaft for their Jedi outing?" Zeb said grumpily as he repositioned the Jedi in his arms.

Soon, they were out in the fresh air and bright sunlight. Now they just had to make it to the _Ghost_ , that was no longer on the ground but up in the air doing summersaults trying to dodge the annoying fighter ships.

"Sabine, we need a pick-up. _Now_ " Hera said hurriedly. It was only a matter of seconds before they would be seen and then they were sitting hutts.

"Roger that Spectre 2." Sabine flew in and opened the ramp letting the crew in closing it and continuing to dodge while chopper fired.

"Zeb." Hera didn't even have to continue with her order. The crew was finely tuned and knew exactly what their jobs were in fighting situations.

"On it." The Lesat left Kanan with Ahsoka in their medical bay before he made his way to another battle station beginning his onslaught of TIEs.

Hera climbed the ladder up into the cockpit and took over the controls as Sabine made her way to start her battle tasks. Within moments, Hera broke through the atmosphere and activated hyper speed blasting off, away from the remaining TIE fighters.


	10. Chapter 10: Trapped

**Chapter 10: Trapped**

Two forms lay still in the Medical bay. The forms of a Jedi master and his padawan.

Ezra was merely sleeping. Ahsoka was able to force heal most of his injuries, now he just needed to rest to fully recover. She had done what she could to help both Jedi's recover. The bones in the youth's arm and wrist were still broken, but not to the extent they were prior to the rescue. The most recent fall had only given him a bad sprain, that would heal with time. The youth hadn't woken up yet, but the Togruta told everyone to just let him sleep until he woke up on his own.

The other form in the bay had several attachments connected to him. He was still deathly pale and had given no sign of arousal. When Ahsoka had healed him, she was unable to replace his blood loss. She gave warning that the Jedi could still possibly die; Kanan had lost far more blood than any human could, without it being fatal.

The female had finished, been taken back to her ship and returned to her duties in space, leaving the _Ghost_ crew to watch over their fallen comrades.

Hera had hesitated leaving the bay after Ahsoka left, but she finally piloted the ship and landed someplace safe for the time being. She had been given orders to do no assignments given to her by the fleet until she had at least one more crew member.

The pilot had landed on a heavily forested area that hid the _Ghost_ from view. There was a city a few klicks away that could be walked to for supplies. The Twi-lek sighed and sat back in her chair as she powered down her ship. She rubbed her eyes with her hands to find some kind of relief from this nightmare. It was one thing when they had almost lost Ezra, the kid meant the world to her just like everyone else on the ship. But her and Kanan had been allies, partners and friends for so long. If something happened to him, she had no clue what she would do.

"How are you holding up?" Sabine asked quietly, walking into the cockpit with a cup of coffee for Hera.

"I'm holding. Thank you." The older female took the cup and took a sip.

"How are they?" Sabine didn't have to ask who 'they' were. She knew.

"No change. I just finished changing Kanan's bandages. Ahsoka did a good job to start the mending process. I didn't know Jedi could speed up healing." The Mandalorian watched their Captain, she knew Hera was taking this hard. She gave credit to the pilot, she was able to hide it well.

Hera nodded slightly.

"They can, but Kanan said that it's very difficult to master and if not done right, can hurt more than heal. What about Ezra?" Hera kept her voice as normal as possible, doing her best to hide her motherly concern.

"The kid is still sleeping. It looks like he took a pretty hard knock to the head. Took five stitches to close it. Pretty soon, he's going to have a nice size collection of scars." She chuckled softly at her joke. It hurt a little to say it out loud because Ezra was just a kid, but she knew the younger teen would find them cool and show them off while he flirted with the older teen.

"You should get some sleep Hera. Zeb is going to watch them tonight and will let us know if they wake up. You've been up since they went into the shaft almost 50 hours ago. Won't do any good to have three people out of commission." Sabine got up stretching.

"I agree. Sabine?" She watched as the girl looked over to her.

"That was really good maneuvering with the TIEs. You and chopper had half taken out before we boarded." She smiled as she watched the 16-year-old beam at the praise. Hera was good at recognizing talent, even when the situation was stressful. Her crew relied on feedback to excel.

The two girls headed to their cabins to rest a bit before one would take a shift with the two Jedi's, the other was going to get supplies.

Zeb was sitting between the two. He looked to make sure no one else was around before he turned to Ezra.

"You should wake up now Kid. I'm tired of dealing with all these women worrying over you. It's just disgusting." He stopped to see if his gruff words had made any difference.

"Plus, I don't like seeing my little buddy like this. I kinda like when you and I get into fights. On Lesan, that's how we males showed affection." The Lesat rarely showed affection like this. But Ezra was his younger brother in arms. It was his job to take care of him. He couldn't do it when Ezra wouldn't wake up.

Zeb fell into silence again as the shift went on with no change.

* * *

" _Kanan?" Ezra's voice sounded distant, even to himself. He was surrounded by dark silence. He felt alone and he was slightly scared. He couldn't tell where he was. The last thing he remembered was falling and looking up at his Master._

" _Kanan? Where are you?" The youth couldn't feel his master. His voice waivered with a slight bit of fear. The darkness was thick and he felt like he was being crushed. Ezra tried to move, tried to get up but couldn't._

" _There you are youngling. I've been looking for you." The voice did not belong to his master. It was familiar, full of malice. The voice was coming from the dark master from his vision. Ezra was starting to panic. Had he been captured? Where was Kanan?_

" _Kanan!" Ezra shouted out, trying to get some response; he couldn't move, the voice was close but felt like it was everywhere._

" _Shh. It's okay young one. Your master is no longer a problem, he left you. He thought you were nothing but a burden. I don't. I can feel your strength. Just come with me and I will unlock your true potential." The voice was so full of hatred and darkness. Ezra felt so cold and wanted to get away from it all. He felt like he was sinking deeper and deeper into the darkness._

" _Join the Dark Side Ezra. You will do great things." The voice touched him. It shocked his whole system. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Where was Kanan?_

* * *

"HERA! Get down here! Something is wrong with the kid!" Zeb screamed through the intercom. He didn't know what to do. Ezra was flopping around on the bed having a seizure and the Lesat was powerless to stop it. He was scared to touch the kid; fearful he may harm him further.

Hera ran into the room and saw Ezra. She quickly put one of the rails up instructing Zeb to do the same on the other side so the padawan would not fall. She had seen a few seizures in her life and did what she could. They had no medication on the ship that would calm it. She watched her youngest member seize violently unable to breathe, unable to have any control of his body.

"What's going on? Ezra? What's happening to him?" Sabine had heard the desperate tone of Zeb's voice on the com and came in. Her eyes widened at the boy before her. She felt fear rise up threatening to bubble over.

"He's having a seizure. Go get a cool wet cloth." Hera barked not caring how she sounded. Her attention was fully on the helpless child before her. She knew if it didn't calm down soon, they would lose the boy.

* * *

 _Ezra was fixing to give up hope. Letting his body slip further and further away. Kanan was gone. He had abandoned him. Ezra was alone in the darkness. The dark voice continued to taunt him, whispering to him, suggesting to him. He started to give up. That's when there was a flash of blue light and everything went still._

* * *

Ezra's body finally went still. The Twi-lek let out the breath she had been holding. Hera grabbed the cloth from Sabine and started to take care of him. Zeb was petrified in place. He didn't know what had just happened to his little buddy. He blamed himself for not watching him. Luckily Hera saw his look.

"It's not your fault Zeb. It's probably from the concussion. I'll take the next shift in case it happens again." Hera was good at remaining calm, but her hands were trembling slightly now. It was her job to model how she needed the crew to be and to reassure them.

"Is he going to be okay Hera?" Sabine was still in the doorway where she had stood after fetching the cloth.

"I don't know." Was all the pilot said as she continued to take care of Ezra. The kid had bitten his tongue at some point, and as a result his mouth was full of blood. Hera kept him on his side for the time being.

* * *

" _Ezra?" The voice of his master was weak and almost silent. The young Jedi had heard it though. He tried to focus on it but couldn't. He felt weak all over. He tried to speak, but produced no sound._

" _Ezra, are you okay?" The voice was getting closer; as it did, it filled the teenager with warmth and light. He tried to speak again._

" _Master…" Ezra sounded like a small, terrified child. He was right now._

" _Calm down kid…you're safe now. I'm right here." Kanan's voice was soothing and soft._

" _But the voice. There was so much darkness. I was so cold. What if it comes back? He wants me to join him, to be his new apprentice. Kanan, I'm scared." Had Ezra been conscious, he would have beat himself up for how weak he sounded. Kanan just sent calming waves to his student. They weren't as strong as normal, but it was enough for the boy to begin relaxing._

" _Just trust me. I will keep you safe. I won't let anything happen to you here." Kanan didn't want to admit that he had been fixing to "go into the light". He was too tired and in so much pain. Just before he took the final step, he heard and felt the fear coming from Ezra. It stopped him, reminded him why he was still alive to begin with. His purpose in life was to protect this kid. If he died, who would? Ezra had somehow brought him back from death, had rejuvenated him._

" _I trust you. But...What happened, where are we?" Ezra still couldn't see through the darkness, but he felt Kanan close by._

" _I think we're on the 'Ghost' now. Somehow you have a connection with the dark user. He can speak with you through your mind." Kanan didn't know how, and knew they would have to stop it; if not, Ezra would be in danger, and would be a threat to everyone in the rebel alliance. If the apprentice had caused so much pain for Kanan, what would a stronger force do with Ezra?_

" _Are you okay?" The youth's mind turned back to a vision of his master on the brink of death._

" _Because of you Kid, I will be fine. I just need to rest. Both of us do. We're trapped in our minds as protection while our bodies heal. I didn't know you had been this injured." The Jedi felt bad that he neglected to see how bad his student was._

" _I didn't think I was…Kanan, are you going to leave me again?" Ezra somehow knew the answer was yes, but he asked anyway._

" _Yes, but this time. If you call me, I will come back quickly. You can practice meditating here if you'd like. It will help pass the time. Normally, our minds are a safe place Jedi can go to sort everything. I'm not going to lie. Yours is a war zone with that dark voice lurking somewhere. But I promise I will be close-by. We will deal with this together okay?" Ezra calmed down. He trusted Kanan with his life, even if he was trapped in his own mind. He knew they would be okay._

" _Okay. Thanks Kanan, for coming." Ezra felt warm and at ease as he started to drift into further sub consciousness._

" _Anytime Kid." Even after he felt Kanan's presence leave, there was still a part of him there. Ezra held onto it to keep his mind from being fully in the dark._

 **** Hey guys, for this fic, the definition of force heal is using the force to speed up recovery time on an injured party; it's not a complete heal. This is how I feel it would really work** **Also, Sequel or are you guys getting tired of this plot line? Someone has already complained about the amount of torture I'm inflicting (which I love, what can I say, I'm a sadist, lol. Maybe if the shows actually had more hurt in them, I wouldn't be this way XD)** ~Ocean**


	11. Chapter 11: Awakening

**Chapter 11: Awakening**

Hera stayed with her two boys the remainder of the night, and well into the next day. The Twi-lek was glad to see that the older of the two was starting to show signs of being alive. His vitals were stabilized at least. Ezra showed no signs of another seizure, but remained asleep.

"I can take over Hera. You really need to rest. Zeb just left for the city to do a supply run. Chopper is doing diagnostics. It will be quiet." Sabine entered just to the threshold of the doorway and spoke softly, as if scared to wake them up. Seeing Ezra how he was last night had really upset her. It was the scariest thing she had ever seen. She never wanted to see it again.

Hera looked up at her and smiled tiredly.

"It's okay Sabine, I took a small nap earlier here. I want to be here in case one of them wakes up, or there are any more problems. I'll be fine." Her voice was calm and mellow, just like most times when she wasn't being rushed.

"Do you need anything then?" The female teen asked staying at the entrance not coming in.

"Some coffee maybe." Sabine gave a nod and disappeared, reappearing a few moments later with a cup of hot liquid, handing it to the Twi-lek.

"You know; I've never been so scared. Watching Ezra seize, knowing that I couldn't do anything but wait it out. I've been through a lot and have seen one before. Nothing had prepared me for one of my own crew members face with a seizure." Hera knew Sabine was upset about the incident, so she decided to try and provide some comfort.

"I know it bothered you too Sab. Do you want to talk about it? I'm always here." Sabine cursed at the motherly nature of her Captain friend. She had started to really view Hera as a mother figure. The Mando began to shake her head before stopping and nodding slightly.

"I've seen a lot too, but nothing like what happened to Ezra. He looked possessed, and then all the blood coming out of his mouth. I thought he was dying." Sabine was quiet and kept her eyes facing the floor, ashamed that something like this bothered her.

"A seizure is scary. I've seen a few in my life, but never with anyone close to me." Hera paused and waited for Sabine to continue.

"Can you explain what happened? What that was?" Sabine looked up and looked over to the sleeping padawan with concern written on her facial features. She wondered if Ezra had known what happened to him.

Hera smiled softly, turning her head to look at Ezra as well.

"It has something to do with their brain, if I remember. I was told by a medical droid that it's an electrical malfunction in the brain. It can be caused by many things: genetics, concussions, poison, certain conditions. There's some other causes but I don't remember them." Hera seemed to recite by rote memory about what a seizure was.

Sabine nodded.

"What caused the blood then? And you said we could have lost him if it continued. How?" The teenager was beginning to relax a little about the situation. Talking out her issues really helped her, when she actually opened up.

"When people have seizures they can sometimes bite their tongue because they have no control of their bodies. He could have died because the seizures will make a person stop breathing, if they don't get air then they die, or at least their brain will." Her continued to recite as she sipped her coffee. She sensed that the artist was still very uncomfortable about being in the room.

"Would you do me a favor and make sure to check the fuel levels of the ship as well as water levels? If I need to dock at another place we can, but if we can stay here a while that would be preferable."

"Sure Hera. If you need anything else let me know." Sabine turned and left. She was glad to leave the room and she knew that Hera had done that on purpose.

* * *

 _Ezra had tried meditating like Kanan suggested. It worked for some time, but the feeling of meditating while unconscious just wasn't working for the teenager. He found that it was really hard to concentrate. The teen felt like he was trapped in a room with no lights or communication to the outside world. The darkness was getting boring and he was beginning to feel alone again. Maybe Kanan would come and talk with him?_

 _No, he only wanted to bother his master if he really needed to. Kanan needed to heal and get better._

" _He abandoned you again youngling. He will always leave you. He is a coward and runs from his problems. You are his biggest problem." The voice chimed in very quiet at first but getting closer._

" _No. He chose me to be his padawan. He promised to be there for me. He won't break his promise." Ezra shouted back at the nothingness._

" _You're angry. That is good." The voice almost seemed to laugh at the young padawan. Ezra faltered slightly._

" _No I'm not!...I know Kanan. He doesn't leave those that he cares about and I'm part of his family." The teen wanted to swing out and punch whoever was behind the voice. Instead he took a deep breath._

" _He is simply using you as a tool in his war game. You're disposable. He doesn't care about anyone on the ship. You're a mistake to him. If you don't believe me, call him. He won't come, he has abandoned you. I won't abandon you Ezra. I can teach you much more than you will ever learn with him." The voice seemed to be right over Ezra, bearing down on him. The boy shivered from the icy cold chill he was getting._

" _Kanan!" Ezra shouted, as he looked around the darkness. The youth's voice seemed to fade out and turn mute. The voice simply laughed at the feeble attempt._

" _I told you, he abandoned you. He doesn't care. Come with me Ezra." Ezra felt the malicious push towards him, he backed away trying to avoid the feeling of pure hatred._

 _Kanan had promised hadn't he? Where was he? Ezra was starting to second guess himself. The fear starting to take over his mind._

* * *

Kanan's eyes snapped open. The pain rushed at him making him nauseous as he forced himself up, gripping his side tightly in pain. He got out of the bed, but the moment he tried to bear weight on his legs he collapsed. Luckily the strong arms of Hera caught him.

"Kanan! What are you doing?" Hera's eyes were wide. One minute the Jedi was almost dead and the next, he was trying to get out of bed.

"You need to rest. Whatever it is can wait." She tried to get him back in bed, he tried to push her away weakly.

"No. I'm being blocked. I can't get to Ezra. I need to make a connection with him." The Jedi's sudden burst of energy was already beginning to fail. Hera simply nodded. She had learned all these years to trust Kanan. If he needed to do something, he needed to do it no matter what condition he was in.

The Twi-lek helped, more like dragged, the male over to his student's bed. Kanan reached out and put his hand on Ezra's head shutting his eyes trying to make some kind of connection with his student. Whatever was blocking out the Jedi was really starting to piss him off.

* * *

 _Ezra was trying to avoid the voice, but he was quickly losing ground. He had tried many times to call to his master, but Kanan had yet to come back. The boy was starting to feel like giving in to the darkness wasn't so bad._

" _That's right Ezra, if you touch me, you can come be my student. I won't leave you child. I haven't left you yet have I? I've been with you all this time." The malice had turned into a bittersweet, as if whoever it was, was trying to being nicer._

" _You. You have? How?" Ezra blinked, now he was really confused._

" _All in good time my child. Come with me to the darkness. You are destined for greatness. You are very powerful." The voice had become a dark swirling cloud and it beckoned to him. The teenager hesitated before he took a step closer._

" _That's it. Closer Ezra. I will show you what power is."_

 _Ezra hesitated. Why did he want power? He had a family. That's all he ever wanted, not power._

" _No. If I go with you, I will lose my family. That's all I've wanted. It's because of the dark side and the Empire that I lost my parents. Why would I want to be part of that?" The student backed away from the darkness._

" _Come to me Ezra. Come now." The voice was growing impatient, and the feelings of anger and darkness Ezra got were much stronger. The boy was shivering from how cold he felt._

" _Ezra." Ezra startled. Kanan was somewhere but he almost didn't' hear the voice of his master._

" _Join me Ezra!" The voice got louder as it swarmed Ezra, engulfing him. He felt like he had been electrocuted. He was surrounded by nothing, but at the same time he was being crushed._

 _There was another flash of light, but it was too late. He was falling._

 _The young Jedi couldn't breathe once again. It was worse than last time. He felt like he was drowning in an icy lake but couldn't reach surface. He looked up and saw a blue light and tried to swim towards it. He continued to sink, deeper and deeper, the light fading from view._

' _Kanan…where are you…?' He thought as the darkness entered his body. He shut his eyes as everything faded. Right as he was giving up he felt strong figurative arms grab him and pull him above the darkness._

* * *

Ezra had started to seize again, which startled Kanan bringing him back to consciousness. He had almost broken through the block before it happened. The Jedi had felt his student and the darkness. He watched as Ezra writhed around with no control of his body's motions. The seizure lasted much longer than the first. It stopped when the boy went limp, unmoving.

Hera almost began to panic when she noticed he had stopped breathing. The Twi-lek began CPR, trying to get their youngest member to breath.

At first, Kanan was lost; He had lost Ezra. Fear struck him hard.

This lasted for a second before he pushed those thoughts to the side and started to try and enter his students mind again. He knew there was still hope, there was still a weak presence of Ezra's signature. The Jedi probed and dug, finally finding his entrance into Ezra's mind. He entered the younger Jedi's mind and dispelled the darkness. Grabbing Ezra and pulling him to the surface of his thoughts.

The youth inhaled sharply and began to breath. Very ragged at first, but a breath was a breath.

"Good Ezra. Just breath honey." Hera cooed as she pushed the boy's bangs out of his face and grabbed the cloth next to the bed, wringing out the water before starting to get him cleaned up.

Kanan was struggling to stay standing, but he was scared of losing the connection with his student. Something was blocking him from Ezra and that something needed to be stopped.

* * *

" _Kanan?" Ezra felt weak all over. It hurt to breathe._

" _I'm right here Ezra. I'm not leaving this time, even if it kills me." Kanan's voice was shaky and hitched. Ezra felt a soothing embrace of his master's signature. It calmed him and he relaxed._

" _What is happening? I feel so tired and sick…" The kid knew that Kanan didn't like when he complained, but right now Ezra didn't care. He was scared and felt like he was dying._

" _Someone is trying to take control of your mind. You're doing good. You're staying strong. We need to get you to wake up. Do you think you can wake up? Hera would be happy. She's very worried." Kanan used Hera as his excuse to be concerned. In actuality, he was terrified himself. The two were fighting against something they couldn't see._

" _Just will yourself to wake up. Picture your eyes opening. It's just like meditating, but the opposite." Kanan was having a hard time staying in Ezra's mind. The kid was not going to leave his sight for a second though._

" _Okay." Ezra tried really hard. On the third try he was finally able to get himself to open his eyes into the brightness._

* * *

The young Jedi opened his eyes and looked around. The bright light hurt his eyes. The smell of the sterile environment burned his nose as well. He hated the medical ward. His sight landed on the eyes of his master, watching him carefully.

"Ezra!" Hera just about hugged him when she saw his eyes open, but refrained from doing so. She smiled instead. Ezra saw that her eyes looked a little glassier than usual; almost like she was about to start crying.

"Welcome back Kid." The Jedi's voice was the same as in Ezra's mind. Very weak. Kanan gave him a small smile.

The padawan glanced his master over and saw that the bandages on his side were staining dark red.

"You're bleeding again…" Ezra tried to sit up but the world started to spin and he almost lost consciousness.

Hera looked over to Kanan and saw this about the same time, leaving to get more bandages.

"Hey calm down Ezra…We don't want you to pass out right now…I don't know if I can get back in if you do. Hera is coming back with more bandages to take care of me. We need to worry about you."

Kanan sat on Ezra's bed. The Jedi didn't take his eyes from the padawan in fear of him disappearing.

"I don't feel it anymore…Not like last time…the first time it was like he was just staying away. Now there's nothing."

"Are you sure? We don't want to take any chances…Whoever it was could kept me blocked from getting to you." Kanan was concerned. Ezra could sense it and hear it.

The kid reached as far as he could into his mind to find some sign that the voice was there before he nodded weakly.

"Whatever it was is gone." Ezra started to say something else, but Hera came into the room with the bandages.

"Alright Kanan, back to bed." Her tone of voice was gentle, yet commanding. She had humored the leader, got both of her boys conscious. Now she felt that should could take charge again. Kanan didn't try and stop her as she got him back in bed and started to take care of the wounds that were actually closing fast thanks to Ahsoka.

Ezra was already starting to drift again. His body was still too tired from the seizures and he had no strength. He didn't notice the green eyed Jedi watching him with fatherly concern. Soon, the boy was fast asleep again.

"Okay, now I think you owe me an explanation Kanan Jarrus about what just happened. I did really good to humor you with everything, now I want to know what that was." Hera was gentle with treating Kanan, but she was a mix of emotions from almost losing both the boys, not sleeping, and not having a decent meal.

Kanan started to explain everything he knew to Hera. Sighing as he finally finished explaining several minutes later.

"So then what ever attacked Ezra is gone?" The Twi-lek had followed everything pretty well. Kanan's words made sense, but she worried about the kid.

"Ezra said it was. So that's what we will go with for now. I'm not going to leave him for a second though. If the kid is wrong, I want to make sure that I'm around to be there." The Jedi had a strong determination in his voice. Hera knew how Kanan felt and agreed.

"Alright, as long as part of that not leaving him means that you're going to rest. You are by all means nowhere near healed. I already almost lost you, and I'm not ready to go through it again." She spoke in her Twi-lek voice which promised punishment to those that opposed her. She lay Kanan down and covered him up.

"Now get some rest love. I'm going to go tell everyone that both of you have woken."

The Jedi nodded as his eye lids felt immediately heavier. Soon both of the male humans were sleeping peacefully. Hera left the room to tell the others, but she still felt a strange feeling in her gut that this wasn't over.

 ****Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this one. Don't think it was my best work so it might be revised later but eh. Anyway, onward to work!** ~Ocean**


	12. Chapter 12: End to a Beginning

**Chapter 12: End to a Beginning**

A few days passed. Kanan was healing nicely and slowly getting his strength back. His student was back to normal except for the fact that his arm was still immobilized. Kanan didn't let the padawan out of his sight for a moment, scared that the dark user would enter into his mind again. Ezra had reassured him that he couldn't feel anything, but that did little to affect how Kanan felt. The Jedi's guard was on high alert 24/7 now.

The day was nice and currently the pair was walking through the forest talking about random things. Hera still hadn't given them clearance for assignments yet, so they were grounded until the Twi-lek decided otherwise. Kanan used this time wisely, working with Ezra on his focus and giving small Jedi lectures to his student; Ezra was asking questions and getting distracted.

"Ezra were you listening to me?" Kanan asked with mild annoyance as he tapped his student's head to gain his attention. Ezra had stopped to look at an interesting tree. The planet's vegetation was nothing like he had ever seen. It fascinated him.

"Yeah." The youth batted him away with his good hand before starting to walk with him again.

"Then what did I just say?" Kanan asked his padawan calmly, thinking he would be able to catch the boy lying just like any teacher. It backfired though and Kanan was surprised.

"You were saying that you wanted me to meditate five times a day now to strengthen my mind so that it would be harder for someone to enter that I didn't want to. Am I close?" Ezra was actually paying close attention. After the events that had been happening, he had got a better understanding for the importance of all the minor and boring things that his master kept trying to teach him.

"Uh, yeah. Dead on." The Jedi shook his head and half rolled his eyes at the smart aleck behavior of the kid.

"I've been meditating more often. It's been helping me sleep at night. I think I'm finally getting the hang of it at least." Ezra was physically there, but his mind kept wandering off topic. Kanan could tell by how the youth's voice kept fading out.

"What's on your mind Ezra?" If Ezra didn't want a lecture, maybe he would want to talk about what was going on to keep him so distracted. The youth hesitated for a moment. His bond with Kanan had gotten much stronger, but he was still hesitant about opening up so much.

"A lot."

Not exactly the reply the older male was looking for, but it was a start.

"Name one thing and let's see if we can work out a solution together." Kanan spoke with a neutral tone, but there was underlying fatherly concern. Hera had told him to be more fatherly, whatever that meant.

"Okay, well you see. There's this girl on the ship that we live on. I have this huge crush on her but she rejects me left and right. Should I just ask her to marry me, or should I go all flashy and have a big event to complement the question?" Ezra finished and looked up at his master grinning. The kid wished he had something to take a picture. Kanan was staring dumbly at him with his mouth slightly open and his eyes wide completely speechless. The teenager started to laugh out loud.

"I was kidding. Geeze you should see the look on your face. Where's Chopper when I need him?" Ezra continued to laugh and his master's expression turned from dumbfounded to unamused.

"Not funny Kid. Ezra I'm being serious." The Jedi had stopped walking and crossed his arms shutting his eyes and rubbing his forehead.

"I thought it was." Ezra calmed down and stood up straight.

"One of these days your sarcasm is going to get you in a lot of trouble. You're doing so well with your focus, why not your discipline?" Kanan continued to show how unamused he was. He was trying to have a serious conversation with the kid and Ezra was acting like a child.

" _Well, that's what he is. Ezra is still a child. I have to keep reminding myself of that."_ Kanan shook his head, voiding it of further conflicts before sighing.

The two walked in silence for a while. Ezra staying near his master's side. The two Jedi had walked several miles away from the ship and were actually on their way back. The sun was setting and the dying light was seeping through the tree tops casting long shadows.

"Kanan?" Ezra's voice had suddenly turned serious.

"Yes?" The Jedi felt his student's feeling of unease and went on guard. His hands were crossed still, but ready to grab his saber or blaster if needed.

"When you were inside my mind, and then you weren't. He kept saying that you had abandoned me." Ezra frowned as he spoke not looking at his master. "I…almost believed him. Why didn't you come like you promised you would?" Ezra stopped and was looking down at the ground. Any time Kanan had tried talking about this topic, the Kid had shrugged him away or had come up with some kind of excuse to leave or not answer the question. Now Ezra was the one starting the conversation.

"I tried. Somehow you were blocking me, or whoever else that was inside. I don't know which one. I know, if it was you, it wasn't intentional, I could feel your fear. That's why I forced myself awake and went to your bedside. When a Jedi has a physical connection, a mental one is easier to facilitate." The Jedi spoke calmly remembering that day.

"Thank you." Ezra didn't know what else to say. He had so much he wanted to ask or say, but he didn't know where to start.

"You're welcome. I believe the phrase you always use is: 'You would have done it for me?' Both the boys smiled at Kanan's words as they continued towards home.

Kanan knew they would eventually have to face the dark user that had hurt his padawan. But until then, his priority was making sure Ezra felt safe where he was and get him healed. He viewed Ezra not only as his student, but as his son and close friend. As long as he was alive, no one was going to take him away.

 **** This concludes this story. But I am already starting on the sequel to conclude what will happen to Ezra. Sorry if everything is seeming so drawn out in my stories guys! Please don't set me on fire because of how I ended this one! If I did anything else I may as well not have a sequel lol. Love ya'll!** ~Ocean**


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